Reserve a Program

Field Trip:

Birding Day:

Forest Friends

Collage Backyard Bird: Spotted Towhee

Collage a backyard bird using recycled painted paper. This class is appropriate for beginners to intermediate. This in person class will focus on collaging a backyard bird in their environment. We will create a collage of a Spotted Towhee and the class will focus on colors and design of the background and bird. An image of the Spotted Towhee will be provided. At the end of the class students will have a complete or near complete collage of the Spotted Towhee.

In-Person Watercolor Painting: Barn Swallow

The much loved Barn Swallow is the worlds most widespread and well-known swallow. This in-person watercolor class with Ronna Fujisawa will be nothing but fun as we explore various blues and warm oranges to create a lovely watercolor of our favorite swallow. Come learn how to paint birds eyes in detail and loose feathers with a flick of the brush. With great joy, we offer this once a month in person bird watercolor class alongside Ronna to learn about birds through watercolor painting.

Accessible Outing: Whitaker Ponds

Join us for a morning of birds at Whitaker Ponds, a local and accessible gem. We'll look for Western Tanager, swallows, Black-headed Grosbeak and more!

Willamette Valley Ecology Series

Gain a deeper relationship with our very own Willamette Valley ecoregion during this three-week intensive with Dan van den Broek and Candace Larson. From geology to lepidoptery with plenty of birding and botanizing along the way, we’ll take a deep dive into the natural and cultural history of the place we call home. We’ll enjoy the splendor of skimmers and skippers, larkspur and lupine, and a rainbow of avian diversity, all dazzling during their spring peaks. We’ll investigate the human pressure on the land, what’s being done to protect critical habitat and how you can play a part in its restoration.  

This series includes three virtual class sessions focusing on the ecology of the valley, including life histories of a wide variety of plants, birds and insects, plus tips, tricks and practice with field identification. We’ll bring our learnings to the field during three exciting, all-day trips to various hotspots throughout the Willamette Valley.

Pacific Northwest Trip: The Birds & Natural History of NE Oregon

Rugged Northeast Oregon is full of scenic beauty with spectacular mountains and gorges. Join us as we explore areas such as the Grande Ronde River, Zumwalt Prairie, and Hell’s Canyon to look for Calliope Hummingbirds, Golden Eagles, Gray Catbirds, Bobolinks, Short-Eared Owls and so much more!  While we are birding, we’ll also dive into the unique ecology of this amazing corner of the state.

Bird Days of Summer

From Boreal Forest to the Sax-Zim Bog: Explore Minnesota!

Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, is a premier birding location in June. We will enjoy many birds of the boreal forest in the north and also birds of the oak-hickory and oak-savannah forests of the St. Croix River floodplain. Join Stefan and Erin to experience the stunning beauty of this area and the unique birdlife of the north.

Online Watercolor Painting with Ronna: Violet-green Swallow

What a beautiful bird! The question is, what green to use in a watercolor painting of the Violet-green Swallow? Achieving this brilliant emerald green requires some thought and some paint mixing. Let’s dive into green as we paint this colorful, cliff dweller. Get out your paint palettes and learn how to combine colors to recreate the colorful patterns on the Violet Green Swallow. Ronna Fujisawa will lead you on this watercolor journey during this online zoom class to learn about painting birds in watercolor.

Bird Journals for Beginners and Continuing Journalers!

Get started or continue with your bird journal, using drawing, simple watercolor, and writing. We use specimens and photos to practice. You will try simple ways to learn to see in new ways, then draw, write, and use watercolors, and develop your pages. No art experience needed, just enthusiasm and a few tools! Register for each class separately.

Field Trip at Portland Audubon: Grades 2-6, 9:45-11:15

Interacting with Ecosystems OR Amazing Animal Adaptations, for Grades 2-6. You will choose one program on the reservation form that follows.  

Enter "1" in the box next to the pricing level that you are paying at.

Pacific Northwest Trip: Malheur Foray

Explore remote and beautiful southeastern Oregon and visit a world-class birder’s paradise, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, during peak migration. We’ll focus on both birds and the natural history of the vast refuge and surrounding areas, including Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert.

Field Trip for PreK-2nd grade, Slot 2

Hanging out in Habitats: Grades PreK-2  
Spend the morning in the forest using hands-on learning to observe and investigate what plants and animals (including us!) need to survive in their habitats.

Sunday: Accessible Bird Song Outing at Whitaker Ponds w/ FBC.PDX

Join Rae Snyder and a host of friends from the Feminist Bird Club for a movement oriented morning. We will spend our time enjoying all the birds around us. In early Spring we will listen for our year-round birds like Song Sparrows and Bewick's Wrens. In late Spring, we wait for colorful migrants like Black-headed Grosbeaks and Western Tanagers. This event is reserved for people who identify as BIPOC, queer, and or disabled. Beginner birders this event is also reserved for you, join in!  
This event is reserved for people who identify as BIPOC, queer, and or disabled. Beginner birders this event is also reserved for you, join in!

Friday: Bird Song Hike - Bird Alliance of Oregon Sanctuary

Rise and shine for a hike in the Bird Alliance of Oregon Sanctuary. On these laid back bird hikes we will move along Balch Creek and explore the less traveled Upper Sanctuary. We can expect to hear our resident songbirds like the Pacific Wren, a host of woodpeckers, and spring migrants like Wilson's Warblers. Come prepared for muddy trails, steep inclines, and narrow slippery portions of the trail. Please check the accessibility information to know if this will be a good fit. Most weeks we will likely finish between 9:30-10 a.m. Feel free to leave anytime you need to.

Field Trip at Portland Audubon: PreK-2, 11:30-12:30

Hanging out in Habitats: Grades PreK-2  
Spend the morning in the forest using hands-on learning to observe and investigate what plants and animals (including us!) need to survive in their habitats.  

Enter "1" in the box next to the pricing level that you are paying at.

Field Trip for PreK-2nd grade, Slot 1

Hanging out in Habitats: Grades PreK-2  
Spend the morning in the forest using hands-on learning to observe and investigate what plants and animals (including us!) need to survive in their habitats.  

Enter "1" in the box next to the pricing level that you are paying at.

Field Trip at Portland Audubon: Grades 2-6, 11:30-1:00

Interacting with Ecosystems OR Amazing Animal Adaptations, for Grades 2-6. You will choose one program on the reservation form that follows.  

Enter "1" in the box next to the pricing level that you are paying at.

Wednesday: Mt. Tabor Bird Song Walks - New Birders!

New to birding? New to birding Mt. Tabor? Our legendary Mt. Tabor bird song walk can be a big group. This will be a shorter outing with a smaller group size (on most days). Be ready for a laid back and casual birding time. We will make space to listen to the birds as well as to eachother. Casual conversation and community building is encouraged on this walk. Together we will focus on our year-round resident birds and gradually welcome colorful spring migrants and those tricky flycatchers. Beginners and first timers are welcome here. *Please note- we will most often climb down large flights of stairs.

Wednesday: Mt. Tabor Bird Song Walks 2.0

Mt. Tabor is one of the most popular birding locations in the Portland Metro area and is a hotspot for migrant birds in spring. The mornings will include birdsong from our resident forest birds and colorful visitors like the Western Tanager and many warblers. *You can expect a large crowd of enthusiastic birders every week.

Digital Class

Field Trip at Portland Audubon: Grade 2-6, Both Slots: 9:45-1:00

Interacting with Ecosystems OR Amazing Animal Adaptations, for Grades 2-6. You will choose one program on the reservation form that follows.  

Enter "1" in the box next to the pricing level that you are paying at.

Tuesday: Accessible Bird Song Walks at Commonwealth Lake Park

Join Julian Hwa and a cast of volunteers at Commonwealth Lake Park -a local unsuspecting bird haven. The fully paved loop is less than one mile following Commonwealth Lake and nearby wetlands. In early spring we may see hundreds of ducks and enjoy our resident birds singing and nest building. As spring continues, we may find Osprey and migrating flycatchers.

Tuesday: Bird Song Walks at Wilkes Creek

Assistant Director of Urban Conservation Micah Meskel will join Brodie Cass Talbott andTara Lemezis from our Education Team to lead a new series of walks around  
Wilkes City Park every Tuesday. This new location is the epicenter of Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Greening Wilkes Initiative. In collaboration with Friends of Trees, Verde, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, and Portland Parks and Recreation, we’re working with the community surrounding the Wilkes Creek Headwaters in outer East Portland to restore and enhance the area’s greenspaces, engage the community in activities to increase climate resilience and deepen the community’s growing connection to this evolving green space. Come check it out with us!

Monday: Bird Song Walks at Canemah Bluff

Situated near the Willamette Narrows, Canemah Bluff sits on the ridge of an ancient Columbia Basalt flow where Ice Age Floods later washed away the soil, creating a small scabland of rocky outcrops. It is an ideal place for Oregon White Oaks to thrive, rising above wildflower meadows of Camas, Rosy Plectritis, Western Buttercup, large-flowered Blue-eyed Marys, and a very small population of the rare Pale Rock Larkspur.  

There are many habitats (including a rich mixed-coniferous forest on the south slope) which are ideal to see an excellent variety of birds. On any given day we should easily find over 30 species, including those more frequently encountered such as Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Spotted Towhee, and the Pacific NW Song Sparrow, providing ample opportunity to learn their songs and calls. Less frequently encountered birds that we could see or hear include Pileated Woodpecker, Hutton's Vireo, and Great Horned Owl.

Pacific Northwest Trip: Birding & Hiking the Rogue Valley

The Rogue Valley sits at a major confluence geologically, botanically, and climactically, with dry open scrub, high mountain conifer forests, and lush wildflower meadows. On this this four-day van trip, we’ll also use our hiking boots to search for some of Oregon’s hardest to find bird species like Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Oak Titmouse, and California Towhee, while enjoying the unique plants, butterflies, and geology that make this region so special.

Colorful, Creative Birds with Jennifer Mercede

Let’s look at pictures of your favorite bird and turn them into art! Free up! Let go of your drawing looking perfect and create colorful bird paintings that are playful and unique.

Creature Creators: